I'm Raymond Mar. My life is filled with new successes and new experiences. I recently experience a step backwards losing who I am. I'm happy the step backwards was short. I grew up again. I found new strength, new wisdom, and the old Raymond Mar from 2009-2012. The biggest success since 2011 is I found a new job. My new life is coming soon. The curses disappeared. There is new hope and new faith. Never take anything and anyone for granted.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

*Fanime Con 2009: took pics of cosplayers, I cosplayed three characters, sold items in Swap Meet, met new people, hung out with friends, saw friends I never saw in a while, attended Black & White Ball, Anime Fans Over 30 panel, and purchased items from friends in the Artist Alley.

*Purchased 8GB compact flash card for the family camera. I purchase another card. You never have enough memory.

*Hiked at Uvas Canyon County Park. I hiked a longer trail. My next hike is another location. I'm thinking Castle Rock State Park.

*Watched Revenge Of The Nerds. I'm a nerd, and I'm pretty proud of it.

*Prepared items I sell at the Swap Meet at Fanime'09.

*Haku cosplay is 95% completed. Need sandals. Ready for Fanime'09 regardless. I catch footballs, jump up to stages from the seating area, shoot basketballs, dodge people in a crowd. I have trouble sewing such as tying threads together. I continue learning sewing in the summer. Avoid listening to Celine Dion when sewing. *yawn!*

*Emergency ortho appointment. Braces are removed in June. Saw co-worker from Colliers. We have the same orthodontist.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

*10th Division From Bleach. Received Toushiro Hitsugaya goodies and more waraji shoes for his cosplay. Also received a Rangiku Matsumoto PVC figurine, my second PVC figurine.

*Celebrated Mother's Day with family. I gave me mom "The Girls from Ames" book by Jeffrey Zaslow and cash. We all tried El Polo Loco chicken for the first time. Purchased book at Borders. Must have been my cell phone.

*Found out 91.1 FM played jazz, not smooth jazz. Station saved in my car radio.

*Caught up on Fullmetal Alchemist manga. I begin catching up with Bleach manga.

*Went to Dance Boulevard for a beginning dance lesson on Salsa and Waltz with my sister.

*Attended dance fund raiser event at Just Dance in Alameda with my family. First experience dancing live on a dance floor. Thank goodness my partner was my sister who helped me. I was nervous and forgot some moves. She quickly taught me some Samba, Salsa, and Merengue.

*New Daytime Backpack. Purchased new backpack at REI.

*Half Way Done. My orthodontist gave me good news. My braces are removed on Wed May 27. My number one moment is my braces removed for a beautiful, handsome smile and my acne cleared from my face.

*Prepare For More Hikes. Purchased hiking shirts, shorts, and a new pair of hiking boots at REI. I'm appreciating REI. Use coupons and take advantage of sales.

*OMG! A Childhood Snack. Purchased finger biscuits, a snack I ate when I was a child. LOL, I imagined I smoked when eating the snack that might explain why the snack is available in Chinese stores only ;)

*New Tires. Three new tires for my car. Michelin Energy MXV4 S8. Tires were very close to the 3/32 inch mark. Also got tire alignment. It's not a gorilla, then what is it? An elephant.

*Ate the frosted animal cookies since Mother's went bankrupt. It appears Nabisco purchased the rights to make a classic Mother's snack.

*New Spring and Summer Clothes. I purchased more new clothes at Kohl's. The donation clothing pile is growing.

*Started to learn the West Coast Swing at De Anza and my sister teaching me.

*Grocery Shopping. Appu and I went to Costco for groceries. Then we ate dinner at Carrows. Our conversations were serious: economy, college, jobs, family, and cost of living.

*Began another beginning workout I downloaded at www.bodybuilding.com. Workout involves free weights. Good time to try in my Strength Development class. So far, so good. And adopted a warm up exercise a classmate taught me. The soccer student is Pablo in the locker room. I began in a friendly way, he introduced himself and asked my name.

*Hiked at Uvas Canyon County Park in Morgan Hill, CA. I'm going to hike more trails around the Bay Area.

*Watched Memento and Transformers with gmontem and Appu. We played Settlers and ate at IHOP. The Settlers game was weird >__>

*Tried Indian food with Appu, Spiritsnare, and Tsubasa. Also drank San Pellegrino soda orange flavor.

*Purchased another pair of boxers at The Gap. Boxers have roosters printed. Roosters, lol?!? Also purchased a new "Indiana Jones" like hat for hiking, traveling, and walking anywhere outdoors. I purchase more "Indiana Jones" hats for a small collection XD

*Dropped Beginning Japanese. I learn on my own. I purchased Genki, beginning Japanese book at Kinokuniya. (May be the best decision I made in 2009.)

*Cosplay #5. Last minute choice to make a fifth cosplay. It's Haku from Spirited Away.

*Time To Stop Holding Back And Take Next Step. I ran the treadmill at 5.8 mph, the highest speed ever! My highest was 5.2 a long time ago. Have courage to jog faster and faster.

*Cooked teriyaki steak. I cut the steak in half length wise. Next I tenderized. Then I marinated with soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, onions, garlic, and sugar.

*San Francisco Cherry Blossoms Festival. Great seeing my friends, fellow cosplayers, and meeting new people. Arrived home at 11:30pm after late dinner with Chloe and Oshu I haven't seen in at least a year and gmontem and Appu. Tried green tea ice cream for the first time.

*The camera battery for the Canon 20D arrived. Battery is used as backup.

*The Sign Of The Times. I was at the gas station getting gas. A person asked for money. The person looked legit being a person struggling. I gave $2.00.

My new backpack is bigger and more comfortable. Much more comfortable. I have more options and pockets. I'm ready for more hiking and carrying big items. I transferred my items to my new backpack. I purchased it at REI's annual sale. BTW, REI kicks ass big time. The prices are expensive; however, save money by signing up at REI.com to receive coupons by email.

Like my green backpack, the blue backpack portrays me as an adventurer, a person's who likes to spend time outdoors, and visiting new places. It's time to go outside and do something, anything.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

If there was something I learned from my Japanese class, it was a negative attribute I must correct. I think too much. The teacher told me straight forward I think too much. The teacher was correct. I think too much. I think too much making many events, moments, and situations in life too hard.

So how do I stop? I tell myself, "stop thinking too much" when I think too much. What do I think about? Anything. Examples include what I'm going to do tomorrow, sad thoughts such as being unemployed, worries about being lonely, family, hobbies, and blogs.

Saying "stop thinking too much" is successful. I feel better and less stressful. I also take a deep breath or take three or four deep breaths. Thinking of a song is another technique. Any technique that wakes me up, to make me be here now, to relax and open up, to become me, to express myself, to get in the rhythm, to finish whatever I'm doing now NOW, I use it to stop thinking too much. I must trust my gut feeling more.

Maybe philosophers get away thinking too much. No more excuses thinking too much if I make a mistake. I correct my mistakes. The last three weeks have been more relaxing because I'm fighting to stop thinking too much.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Let's take a break from the self interview questions. I have one more question entry and then I continue the positive blog entries. (Thur Apr 16 was the last day of positives.)

I got the trivia idea from watching Mad Max starting Mel Gibson. I was just taking it easy and playing around with the DVD special features. I selected "Mad Facts Trivia Track." Then the movie started playing and trivia appear throughout the movie. I watched the movie and wrote down my life trivia I thought about on paper. Here we go:

* My signature good bye is "see ya around." The first time I said it I was in 8th grade. BTW, my late grandfather's signature good bye was "thanks a million."

* My left leg is bent unconsciously when I'm in a good mood driving. My left leg is straight if I'm in a bad mood. I straighten my left leg consciously to stretch.

* My first buzz cut was in late Summer 2004. I love the buzz cut since. I choose the cut for a new look and my hair line has been receding.

* I thought about buying a Honda Accord in 2001 at Max's Restaurant. Looking back, I'm glad I didn't. I waited six more years to buy my first car, a 2005 Toyota Camry used from my neighbor who moved out of state. My dream car today is the Audi A8.

* My first anime convention was Fanime Con 1997. I started making friends in anime cons at Japantown Anime Faire 2 on September 2004.

* My first book report was "The Magic Fish" in 4th grade. I barely passed because the book was less than 100 pages long.

* One time I wrote a false book report in 4th grade. The book was "The Fat Cat," a mystery novel. Not only did I not read it, I never knew the author. I made up the entire report.

* In 8th grade, my nickname was "rapid" because when I play lunchtime football, I run, catch, avoid tackles, and score touchdowns and touchdowns and touchdowns.

* I never had any friends visit my house when I was a kid. The word "playdate" never existed during my childhood.

* The first movie I watched in the movie theatres was "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" in Dublin, CA. I never understood the plot and never realized who Harrison Ford was. I enjoyed the fighting scenes and the scenes where the Nazis transported the ark.

* I never drank a cup of coffee in my life. And I never had a Cinnabon.

* My first girl I danced was the 7th-8th grade Halloween dance in junior high.

* The longest I stayed awake was 27 hours at Fanime Con 2004.

* I wore a retainer on my upper teeth when I was a kid. My parents did a bad job maintaining the retainer and I did a bad job wearing the retainer. There were many times I took the retainer off and forgot to put it back in my mouth.

* Fall Semester 1993 was the worst semester while I was a student attending San Jose State. The semester should have been a wake up call to take my classes serious and not take college for granted. Thinking back, I failed to learn those lessons.

Friday, May 1, 2009

On Sun Apr 19 around 6:45pm, I was in San Francisco outside Japantown where the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival took place. I was walking to a restaurant to eat dinner with my friends. I thought of a random question: "Why do I cosplay?" My reply was, "Holy shit. I forgot why I cosplay?" Here are the reasons why I cosplay. First, a brief history how I began cosplaying.

I almost quit anime after talking to an old friend at Fanime Con '04. He graduated at UC Irvine and had a full time job. He was phasing out of anime. After the conversation, I thought about quitting. On day 3, I watched 17 episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist. The 9th episode I said to myself, "I'm cosplaying Edward Elric." The months of July and Aug I researched how to make the cosplay. My Mom was nice and did a great job making the red coat and black vest. I cosplayed Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist at Japantowne Anime Faire in Sep 2004 that saved me from quitting anime. I also cosplayed Syaoran from Tsubasa Chronicles, Toshiro Hitsugaya from Bleach, and Chrono Haralown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.

The number one reason why I cosplay is to meet new people. I forgot the number one reason since Fanime Con '08. I did meet new people at Fanime '08. I should have met more new people. I also cosplay to hang out with my friends who cosplay. And I also take pictures of cosplayers. I have dual roles—I cosplay and take pics of my fellow cosplayers.

I want to share one of my favorites bittersweet moments. In Fanime '05, I was shopping in the dealer's room for bargains on the last day. A random group of cosplayers asked me to join them for lunch. I was tired hosting Texas Hold'em in Tabletop Gaming the night before and I politely refused. Thinking back, I should have joined the cosplayers.

Obviously having fun is another reason I cosplay. I'm happy I remembered why I cosplay. Fanime'09 takes place Memorial Day weekend. Now I remember the reasons why I cosplay. I'm ready to have fun, open myself up, hang out with my friends, and meet new people. Yay!

About Me

Get up and do something, anything is my life motto. The irony is true: live a good life, live a happy life, one must work intelligently to achieve them. Earn them. I don't take life for granted. Be active. Be open. I always seek new experiences and adventures. Boredom kills life's motivation. Meet new people. Create new circle of friends. Exercise your body. Exercise your mind. Strong bodies, strong minds. Spend wisely. Rest is important. Feel a good person. Be a good person.